– Routine maintenance or deeper trouble?
– Maintenance or mismanagement? Industry voices sound alarm
Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Just six months after its high-profile commissioning, the Port Harcourt Refinery has once again gone quiet, not due to operational glitches or sabotage, but for a planned routine maintenance.
According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, the shutdown, which began last Saturday May 24, 2025, is part of a scheduled turnaround aimed at ensuring “sustainability and efficiency.”
But the announcement has ignited a firestorm of controversy and skepticism, particularly among stakeholders in the petroleum industry and residents of the host communities.
The move raises critical questions: Is it standard for a refinery to shut down for maintenance just six months after rehabilitation and restart? What does this say about the quality of its $1.5billion rehabilitation?
NNPCL’s defence: It’s scheduled, not emergency
In a statement signed by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, NNPCL described the move as part of a “planned maintenance and sustainability assessment” carried out in collaboration with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA.
“We are working closely with all relevant stakeholders to ensure the maintenance and assessment activities are carried out efficiently and transparently,” the statement read.
Although the national oil company in the statement did not specify the duration of the shutdown, it emphasized NNPC Ltd’s commitment to energy security and operational reliability.
“NNPC Ltd remains steadfast in its commitment to delivering sustainable energy security for Nigeria,” the statement concluded.
Petrol retailers express worries
However, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, PETROAN, is not convinced. The association has raised the alarm over the refinery’s early shutdown, calling for greater transparency, realism, and accountability from the NNPC Limited.
PETROAN President, Billy Gillis-Harry, while acknowledging that refineries require regular maintenance, said shutting down a facility so soon after commissioning “raises concerns about the actual operational readiness” of the plant.
“It is expected, but we are very concerned about the realism of the 30-day repair timeline. In our experience, these timelines often stretch endlessly due to bottlenecks,” he warned.
Key demands by PETROAN are: “Inclusion of PMS Blending Unit: Without it, the crude cracking process will be incomplete and commercially ineffective. Realistic Timeline: PETROAN urges NNPCL to avoid overpromising and under-delivering.
Others are, “Task Force Monitoring: A multi-stakeholder group should be established by the Petroleum Minister to oversee the work. Weekly Progress Reports: Nigerians deserve regular updates. Prompt Contractor Payments: To avoid stalling the already delicate schedule.
PETROAN added: “Delays in the old refinery’s 30-day rehabilitation may worsen economic hardship for millions of Nigerians who are already dealing with fuel scarcity and rising prices.”
Port Harcourt refinery never worked, only blending naphtha
In a stunning revelation, Mr. Alex Ogedegbe, former Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refinery, described the November 26. 2024 commissioning as “a lie,” revealing that no real refining occurred.
“The Refinery wasn’t producing anything in the last six months. It was only blending naphtha into poor quality diesel. I have told them that the old refinery (Area 5) can never work. The commissioning in November last year was a lie. What are they maintaining now in six months? The platformer, that is the CRU, has never come on.”
Ogedegbe also criticized the lack of trained Nigerian personnel and alleged plans to bring in Egyptians to operate the facility.
“Even if the refinery starts working today, where are the trained refiners to man the plant? When I was there, we sent Nigerian engineers to Japan and Italy for training. They came back to run the plant. Today, those people are all retired, and no new generation has been trained,” he said.
He disclosed that even JGC, the original builders of the refinery, had rejected the rehabilitation contract in 2002, warning it would harm their reputation.
Ogedegbe argued that a true Turn Around Maintenance, TAM, should only occur after 18 to 24 months of consistent operation, not six months after blending operations.
He explained that the sulphur content in the current diesel output far exceeds international standards, “over 1,000 ppm” compared to the 10 ppm allowed globally, making the products unsellable anywhere but Nigeria.
“Before we shut down in our time, we used to fill all tanks with at least 60 million litres of products to buffer the shutdown. That’s how real refineries work. And if you shut down for Turn Around Maintenance, you should already have spare parts and enough products stored to last 30 days. That was the standard in our time,” he stated.
Shutdown proves the commissioning was a farce
Echoing similar sentiments, Dr. Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, Executive Director of the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, YEAC-Nigeria, said the shutdown shows the refinery was never ready.
“It is surprising to hear that the NNPCL is shutting down the Port Harcourt Refinery after just opening it with lots of controversy. If it hasn’t truly operated in the last six months, what exactly are they maintaining now?” he asked.
Fyneface called for more transparency in the process and urged the Federal Government to focus on modular refineries and legalizing artisanal operations in the Niger Delta.
“It is the failure of government refineries that fuels pipeline vandalism and illegal refining. People resort to it because of the unavailability of refined products like PMS, AGO, and DPK. Legalizing artisanal refineries, as we have previously advised, is a viable alternative,” Fyneface asserted.
Host community group alleges sabotage
Adding a new layer of tension, just 24 hours before NNPCL’s shutdown announcement,
a host community group had accused the Refinery Coordinator, Engr. Bayo Aderenle, of deliberately sabotaging the facility in favour of a private refinery interest.
The Okrika and Eleme Host Communities Petroleum Bulk Retailers of Port Harcourt Refinery Depot, in a strongly worded statement signed jointly by the BOT Chairman High Chief Sunny Nkpe and Secretary Emmanuel Inimgba, alleged that Engr. Aderenle was orchestrating a shutdown of the Port Harcourt Refinery in a “calculated ploy” to hand over market control to a privately-owned refinery he allegedly fronts for.
“As we speak, the old Port Harcourt Refinery has initiated the process of shutting down on the directives of Engr. Bayo (Aderenle). This sabotage will inevitably lead to increased fuel prices in Nigeria, further exacerbating the economic hardship faced by our people. We hold Engr. Aderenle directly responsible for this impending crisis.”
The group claimed that Aderenle’s actions are driven by personal gain, not national interest. They further accused him of denying the host communities their benefits during the rehabilitation phase, including contracts, employment, and economic empowerment initiatives.
Beyond alleged economic sabotage, the community leaders said Engr. Aderenle’s conduct is also undermining the long-term viability of the refinery’s full operations.
According to them, his interference has stalled the completion of the Crude Distillation Unit in the old plant and slowed progress on Areas 1, 2, and 3 of the new refinery.
“There’s a looming disengagement of our sons and daughters working on operations and maintenance at the facility. We will not fold our arms and watch the efforts of the Federal Government go to waste. We will resist, through all legal means, any agenda aimed at killing this refinery.”
To avert a full-blown crisis, the Okrika and Eleme Host Community Petroleum Bulk Retailers demanded the immediate removal of Engr. Aderenle and the urgent appointment of a substantive Managing Director for the Port Harcourt Refining Company, PHRC.
PHRC staff warned to stay silent
In a separate development, an internal memo signed by PHRC’s Human Capital Management Lead, Leo Njoku, ordered all staff to avoid any form of interaction with the media during the shutdown. The memo warned of “severe disciplinary consequences” for anyone found engaging with external persons, citing labor law restrictions on speaking to the press.
“Mind your business. No interaction with external people or giving information to press people. HCM (Human Capital Management) will be monitoring staff activities during this period,” the memo read.
This perceived muzzle on transparency has added to concerns that something more than routine maintenance might be playing out behind refinery gates.
What is at stake?
Nigeria has spent $1.5 billion on the Port Harcourt refinery rehabilitation alone since 2021, with the 60,000bpd old refinery’s revamp forming the flagship of this effort. Expectations were high that the plant would reduce dependence on fuel imports, boost local supply, and lower pump prices.
Yet, this latest development risks undermining confidence in that narrative, especially as millions of Nigerians continue to buy petrol at deregulated rates, despite promises of domestic refining easing the pressure.
While NNPCL insists the shutdown is routine, industry players, retail outlet owners, host communities, and the wider Nigerian public are demanding answers. As the refinery undergoes this “checkup,” the spotlight is squarely on the integrity of Nigeria’s refining promises.
Was the Port Harcourt Refinery truly ready, or are Nigerians once again paying for progress that exists only on paper?
